


We'll Make It Through This Night

by spacenoodle



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, No Incest, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28065462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacenoodle/pseuds/spacenoodle
Summary: The Hamato family is relocating after the battle with Shredder. Can they start healing in the aftermath and find a sense of home again? Or will it drive them further apart?
Comments: 13
Kudos: 49





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> There are five chapters, each with a different character's POV. All text message dialogue is prefaced with the first letter of the character's name because I'm lazy. There are no romantic relationships in this fic. I'm doing this for fun so please feel free to comment below. Constructive criticism and/or suggestions for future chapters are also appreciated.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's April staying over for dinner and some of her life on the surface because I feel like that isn't talked about enough

The nights following their battle with Shredder were not easy. After salvaging what they could, they found a more secluded sewer tunnel to start over. April couldn’t help but feel the Hamatos’ despair. Each individualized bedroom, the TV from their classic Jupiter Jim movie nights, the kitchen where Mikey made his first signature pizza, a decade’s worth of Donnie’s tech— gone. All of it was gone.  
April rested her head against the bus window. The burnt ruins of skyscrapers had become commonplace enough that New York bustled around them with inappropriate disregard. Her neighbourhood was hit hard. There were scorch marks on nearly every apartment complex and displaced people aimlessly wandering the streets. Even the schools in her district shut down until further notice. Nowadays she spent most of her time volunteering the community centre with her parents- tutoring children, sorting clothing donations, working at soup kitchens, you name it. Her dad always said that O’Neil’s never turn their back on those in need.  
Her phone buzzed. The group chat had been eerily quiet all week. It was Donnie this time with a map to the new lair.  
D: “You’re a godsend O’Neil.”  
A: “Oh, I know."  
April hoisted her duffle bag and squeezed her way off the bus. Could she fit a hiker’s backpack, a Goodlife fitness bag, and herself into a manhole behind a McDonald’s? She decided that she had done crazier things in her life.  
It had been over a week since the rebuilding effort began. Since Splinter was still recovering from nearly losing his life force, the others ended up responsible for the renovations. Raph did a lot of the heavy lifting: smashing walls down, carrying in lumbar, constructing IKEA furniture. He often worked with Donnie who was in charge of planning the heating, plumbing, power, and security system. In the role of medic and part-time delivery boy was Leo. Meanwhile, Mikey was in charge of everything interior design. In her free time, April had become the resident jack of all trades thanks to her extensive resume. None of them had much time to cook so the takeout boxes were piling up. Thankfully April’s dad always sent her over with huge Tupperwares full of assorted food.  
April cursed herself for telling her dad about her ‘totally human friends who were displaced by the Battle for New York’ when she was scaling the slimy rungs with two bags digging into her shoulders. A rat screeched and skittered away when she landed with a grunt. A pack of screws fell out of her backpack and into a puddle. She told him that they could just order out and avoid the luggage but he gave her a stubborn look and insisted.  
“No buts— we are lucky that we still have our home and jobs,” Her dad had said sternly. “It’s the least we can do.”  
Her mom just chuckled and pecked him on the cheek. “You always talk about these friends of yours. Why don’t you invite your friends over for dinner?”  
April had always wanted to introduce them all to her parents. She really did. But how do your introduce four teenage mutant ninja turtles and their ex-movie star rat dad to anyone on the surface? Sure, maybe her parents would understand but she could imagine their shocked faced whenever she ran the scenario in her head. It would make her friends feel like freaks.  
She checked her phone for the map again. It took half an hour of wandering before she found an archway draped in plastic sheets. There was a sign overhead that said: Danger, Mad Dogz. She peeled past the curtains and was immediately met by .S.H.E.L.D.O.N. who gladly took the Tupperware from the duffle bag. Raph turned to wave at her nearly striking Mikey over the head with the wood planks over his shoulder. Mikey glared at him, it would have been intimidating if he wasn’t pouting like a paint covered child.  
“Hey big guy, d’you know where Donnie is?” April smiled. “I have the parts he asked for.” She gestured to the coil of wire over her shoulder.  
“Yeah, I think he’s settin’ up the generator in the lab,” he said. “Are you staying over tonight? The pillow fort’s still up.”  
April shook her head. “I wish I’m helping out at the community centre tomorrow. I can stay for dinner, though.”  
Raph nodded knowingly and got back to setting up his bookshelf.  
She had to admit, the plastered walls and floor tiles were a far cry from the hollowed sewer tunnel they started with. April followed the purple light and colourful outbursts coming from the end of the hall. Donnie gave an exacerbated sigh when the generator sparked and die for the eleventh time. April knocked on the threshold. He spun around with a yelp.  
“Hi to you too, Jumpy,” She said raising an eyebrow.  
Donnie quickly hid his shock with an uneasy smirk. “I-I was expecting Mikey to come back with the pliers.” He admitted. “My brothers tend to be noisy, if you haven’t noticed.”  
April glanced at the bandages plastered over his shell before pouring the coils of wire and boxes of parts onto his workbench. He immediately began tearing packages open and sifting through the contents. This should have been the last of the generator parts. At least she hoped so, April was fine with Donnie using her postal code but she could only hide so many shipments in her room before her parents got suspicious.  
“April O’Neil, you have done it again!” He laughed, pulling her into a one armed hug. He grabbed a few pieces and began tinkering with the old generator. It was easy to tell which parts were salvaged from the rubble by the chipped purple paint. He backed away shaking out his hands excitedly before throwing the switch. The machine coughed and sputtered before it picked up again with a hum. Suddenly the lights blinked into life. April couldn’t help but join Donnie’s little victory dance.  
“Oh thank Tesla, that took forever to set that up!” Donnie cried. “Now I just have to double check my circuitry and the grounding wires. With the generator operational I can install a beautiful new security system. What are your thoughts on lasers?” He reached for his energy drink but before he could bring it to his mouth, April smacked it out of his hand.  
“Rude.”  
“Donnie,” April frowned gesturing to the energy drink can next to his monitor. “I just saved you from drinking engine oil.” He stared at the canister on floor in silence. Sure enough black oil was staining his floor.  
“A common mistake,” he said half-heartedly.  
April planted both her hands on his shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. “Don, when was the last time you slept?”  
His eyes darted around the cluttered room as he muttered.  
“Sorry, what was that?”  
“—48 hours ago…” He murmured reluctantly. “But I closed my eyes for 5 minutes in the shower!” April’s grasp tightened a but at that comment.  
She felt the frustration melt into concern as she released her grip. She sighed and pulled him into a proper hug. Lately being around the turtles made the voice at the back of her head become louder.  
“You’re smart and you fought bravely but it’s not your responsibility to have everything done within a week— Karai wants you to know that.” April said solemnly. “April O’Neil says eat and go to bed before I make you.”  
Donnie discretely wiped his eyes and snorted. “Lead the way.”


	2. I'll Get the Bandaids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cut to Leo sassily running around with a first aid kit. That's it. That's the chapter.

The sewer tunnels were pitch black. Unfortunately that meant the rush of sewer river and smell of rot were all the more noticeable. Leo jogged down a tunnel with his phone flashlight. He had meant to be back two hours ago. Where the hell did the time go?  
R: “Get your shell back here. Dad thinks we’re being sus.”  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah— I know!” Leo snapped at the notification.  
He slipped through the plastic sheets silently. They were still eating in the living room, Splinter with his back to him. Donnie and April immediately noticed him and engaged Splinter in a conversation about the declining quality of Hollywood movies. As an added distraction, Mikey slapped a glass off the table. Raph broadly gestured for him to get out of sight before changing out of his disguise. Sometimes he wondered if they understood the meaning of ‘act natural’.  
Thankfully he snuck into the bathroom unnoticed. Leo struggled to wriggle out of his backpack and winter coat. The throbbing in his shoulder sent stabbing pain up his neck. He cursed and leaned against the kitchen sink when the nausea hit him. The backpack fell onto the closed toilet seat before spilling sterile dressings, antibiotics, and pain killers across the floor. Eventually he managed to haphazardly shove the supplies into the cupboards and his face mask into the empty bag. He slipped on a Jupiter Jim sweatshirt and practiced lying in the mirror before rejoining the others for dinner.   
——————————————————————————————————————————  
Evening med rounds started at 9:45PM that day but he always started with Splinter. Leo handed him a vile of golden liquid that Draxum had prescribed. Everyone— save Mikey— was skeptical of its power restoring properties. Donnie muttered something about Draxum being a middle aged woman addicted to essential oils but couldn’t find a scientific solution to their father’s condition. Splinter knocked the medicine back and coughed.  
“Why must they always taste like cherry cough syrup?” He grumbled setting the glass container next to several others. He leaned against the foot of the couch and closed his eyes. “How are your brothers? Red tells me that he is worried about you all.”  
Leo stopped reorganizing his kit for a moment. “Raph’s concussion is improving. I got a proper brace for Mikey’s leg— still gotta check that. Donnie’s shell is healing slowly but that’s expected. April says that the cast comes off her wrist in a couple weeks.”  
Splinter nodded.   
“I am sorry,” he said quietly. “If I had accepted my destiny and guarded the dark armour then you boys would not been hurt. I should be helping you dress wounds and rebuild, not lying on the living room floor.”  
“If you accepted your destiny you would never have met us in the first place,” Leo countered. “Just focus on getting better for us, alright?”  
“Thank you Blue,” Splinter hummed. “But while you’re at it, my feet could use a good rubbing too—”  
“Oh, you hear that? I think Mikey fell off a ladder.” Leo said. “Better make sure he didn’t break his neck.”  
“You are a turtle, you don’t even have ears.” Splinter called after him. Leo chuckled as he wandered off to find Mikey. He followed the music from Mikey’s record player down the hall to his bedroom. Sure enough his little brother was stringing faerie lights across his room. Between the cardboard houseplants were shelves were chalked full of discount marker sets, stacks of magazines, and canvases. The walls were plastered with colourful posters and a hammock was strung between two pipes. Of course, it was the classiest room in the house.  
“Hey Miguel, I like what you’ve done with the place,” Leo gaped.  
Mikey’s face lit up. “You like it? Donnie said it looked messy but what does he know.”  
They chatted while Leo switched out the make shift brace for a velcro one. Unfortunately he still couldn’t put any weight on it but he regained some range of motion in his ankle. He helped Mikey up from the bean bag chair. He stumbled and grabbed his arm for support. Leo swore it felt like his arm was being torn off. Mikey caught the wall and sighed.   
“Ugh, this is taking forever to heal! I feel like a stupid baby!”   
Leo could feel cold sweat on his neck when when Mikey turned to face him. He could not make his baby brother worry. Especially when he knocked on their doors every night because the nightmares kept him up.  
“Wow, you look kinda pale.” Mikey frowned. “Raph was right— you should really eat something.”  
Phew.  
Leo pulled him into a quick hug to give himself another moment for his vision to focus. Mikey gave him an odd look but shrugged it off and picked up his sketchbook before jumping into his hammock. Leo tossed a blanket at him.  
“If you go to bed now I won’t tell Raph that you were up past your bedtime.” He offered, trying to even out his voice.  
Mikey told him that he should shut up because he was thirteen and didn’t have a bedtime. Leo rolled his eyes and switched off the lights leaving only the faerie lights overhead. Little did he know that Mikey would smudge his paper with something red on his fingertips and stare at it curiously.   
While slipping out of Mikey’s room, Leo bumped into Raph. He brought a finger to his lips and the two of them tip toed back to the living room. Splinter was snoring loudly on a futon where the coffee table would have been.   
“No way, Mikey? Asleep without putting up a fight?” Raph exclaimed. “You drugged him, didn’t you?”  
Leo faked an offended scoff. “Please, he tired himself out,” Leo lied. He treated the crack in his plastron and the latest hammered fingers while they discussed the latest renovation plans. Raph thanked him and yawned.  
“Oh, and Leo,” Raph said. “Tell Donnie to get some sleep when you see him, will ‘ya?”


	3. The Chicken Soup Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donnie's still awake because anxiety. There's FaceTime with April. Tech boy notices somethings up about his brother. There's a lot of flashbacks and banter for some reason.

A: “You better not be awake but… are you awake?”  
D: “Unfortunately.”  
A: “Video call?”  
April called at 11:30PM. They chose to skip the sleep deprived elephants in the room. Instead April showed him the Christmas sweater her mom made for Mayhem. Donnie found it hilarious that her mother still believed that Mayhem was a rescue Chihuahua from a makeup testing facility. Eventually they started reminiscing about their more light-hearted adventures. Of course, the conversation drifted to “Operation Normal”, as Mikey dubbed it. Leo became very self-conscious about his posture afterwards while Donnie was just grateful that they didn’t have to put up with human eyelashes. When he explained how he glued his eyelids together, April’s face lit up and she cackled. Seeing her laugh made him feel a weight lift off his shoulders.  
“Hey Don,” April yawned, her cheek buried was buried in a pillow. “After the world normals out a bit, we should all vacation to Japan— me, you, the boys, Splints.”  
Donnie agreed, as long as he could replicate the mechanism behind Sunita’s broach. It seemed like a distant but pleasant dream. Shortly after April decided to call it a night. She insisted that he go to bed too before the blue glow of his phone died and he was left alone in the dark lab.   
He began fidgeting with parts on the work bench. Maybe if he reorganized them to his liking, he be at ease enough to go to bed. Eventually fidgeting became tinkering and tinkering became working.   
It was around 1:45AM when Donnie was interrupted by an obnoxious turtle lounging in his computer chair. He rolled his eyes and continued soldering a circuit board for his latest battle shell. Hopefully this one would last longer— who was he kidding, that’s what he said about the last five.   
“Hey Donnie~ you wouldn’t guess what I saw on the surface today—“ Leo began. His rambling started with the Jupiter Jim mask he saw on the subway. Then he considered buying a bumblebee print mask from a kiosk but the vendor had a menacing lazy eye. In fear of being cursed by the vendor man he rushed to the grocery store and tried his best to avoid suspicion. He appreciated Donnie lending him some shades and a mask, he really did, but was convinced that security followed him the entire time. Oh, but it got crazier when he left, a mascot chased him into the alleyway behind a dingy 60’s electronics store. He easily scaled the fire escape and out of sight but heard the mascot grumble something about a red masked turtle mutant stepping on his turf. When he wandered back out of the alley he saw a bit of a documentary from the TV sets in the store’s display window that said that honey was actually bee vomit but he already knew that from playing Minecraft.  
“Leo,” Donnie groaned. “I will literally pay you to take your Adderall.”  
He smirked, rolling a battery between his knuckles. “Give me twenty bucks and I’ll think about it.”  
The squeaking of the computer chair felt like nails on a chalkboard. He really should have listened to April but his hands kept glueing themselves to his tech. It’s not like he didn’t try to sleep. It’s just whenever he closed his eyes he swore he could hear Shredder’s hollow laughter and the splitting of plaster echoing outside his bedroom. Donnie hated that anticipating the Shredder’s return was rational but could not ignore the thought. It terrified him enough to obsessively upgrade his weaponry and always have an eye on his security cameras.   
He reached for a cold mug of coffee but was stopped by the dull throb on his back crawling up to his skull. The memory of the dark armour cutting through him resurfaced for a moment. Guilt washed over him. How did the calculated and prepared brother become the most dependent piece of collateral? Donnie wondered to himself. If he hadn’t been so careless then maybe— a sharp pain shock his hand. He cursed and slammed the iron onto the table.  
Donnie didn’t have to look up from his hands to picture the concern on his brother’s face. Lately, that expression was too frequent for his liking.   
He repaired a toaster when he was six. It took him a week’s worth of laser focus and frustration. On the third day electrocuted his finger and threw a fit. Raph showed him a breathing exercise to regulate his emotions. Inhale for four seconds, hold, exhale for seven seconds. It was funny how those habits stuck.  
1, 2, 3, 4… Hold… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…  
“C’mon,” Leo said softly. “Let’s take a break.”  
Donnie sat on the edge of the bathtub while Leo reapplied resin to the fibreglass patches over each scratch. He kept saying that it was crucial to keep the wounds dry. The cleaning process left him sore and raw but it was less agonizing each time. Leo asked him if he had taken his antibiotics. Everyone seemed to remind him several times a day so of course he did.   
‘That’s strange,’ Donnie thought. The coppery smell from the lab still hung in the air. It was unlikely that the scent stuck to him since he had washed his hands and changed clothes. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at Leo as he restocked his kit’s supply. What was that slightly darker stain on the sleeve of his black sweater? Suddenly it clicked.   
He grabbed Leo’s arm and pushed up the sleeve. He squawked and pushed his palm into his forehead but Donnie stubbornly stood his ground. Sure enough, there was blood. Without his tech it was a battle getting him to sit and bare his shoulder. Beneath the old red stained bandages there was an angry red gash held together with uneven stitches. It looked like the first stages of an infection. When he adjusted his arm to get a better look at the wound he noticed that he couldn’t raise it higher than 45 degrees. Leo admitted it had been dislocated but quickly relocated shortly after the fight.  
“How long were you planning to keep that a secret?” Donnie scowled as he cleaned the wound. While Leo might have become resigned to the situation, he was hesitant to answer. Donnie watched his brother stare unhappily at the wall, wincing occasionally.  
“Everybody’s so on-edge,” he sighed finally. “It wouldn’t help if I said anything. Besides, it’s my responsibility, I’m supposed to be the medic.”  
“Well, great job medic,” Donnie deadpanned. “You nearly gave yourself gangrene.”  
Leo rolled his eyes. “Oh haha, I forgot to change my own dressings for a few days. How many energy drinks have you drank in the past 48 hours? I can hear kidney stones forming.”  
Donnie couldn’t help but smile a bit. Thank Copernicus, despite all the bullshit of the past week they could still banter like old times. They had all been so busy that he forgot how much he craved those little family moments. There was a name for it. He called it “The Chicken Soup Theory”: the more it hurts, the more you need the company of others.  
Donnie finished tying a sling behind his brother’s neck. “We’re both disasters, aren’t we?” He chuckled. His wristwatch said 2:54AM. “Say it’s nearly 3:00AM or teatime, if you will. Would you like to join me?”  
Leo snorted. “Fine, but then you better go to bed or else I’m telling Raph.”


End file.
